What you will learn: Reporters are always looking for great stories to tell. Always. In today's episode, we talk about how to connect with news influencers on social media.

Transcript:

Welcome to the Get Media Smart podcast. Never struggle to get attention again.

I’m your host, Cheryl Tan

Want to learn how to get noticed by the media?

What if the media came to you, and right behind them….clients and customers?

How do you leverage that publicity to grow your company?

This is the Get Media Smart podcast, where you will hear real-life stories of publicity gone right. You will learn actionable steps to get your name in front of the people who matter.

Hi, everyone! I’m Cheryl Tan. Welcome to the Get Media Smart podcast. Episode #5.

We are on Day 5 of the Become a Media Magnet Challenge.

It’s not too late to join us. You can sign up for this free email challenge at CherylTanMedia.com/podcast and for two full weeks, you will get action items straight to your inbox - action items that will help you attract attention for you and your business.

I will outline the challenges in the first 14 episodes of this podcast. They are short, to the point, and you can always join us in our Facebook community for more insight. I would love it if you subscribed to the “Get Media Smart” podcast, where I will take you through the entire two-week challenge verbally.

Onto today. The last four challenges have had you gathering intel - seeing how you show up in Google, determining the story you’ll pitch, finding out which local news outlets are available in your area.

You've been digging deep, you've been pooling together information. You have been setting the stage.

In today's Challenge (Challenge #5), I want you to take some action.

Remember the local media outlets you wrote down in yesterday’s challenge? Go one step further and consider the actual people who work there. Who is the morning reporter at your favorite news station? How about the reporter who covers politics? Or who is the afternoon drive time DJ you love to listen to? How about the meteorologist who gets you through the bad storms?

You tune in to the shows to get information, but you may watch because of the news personalities themselves.

I guarantee each and every one of those personalities has either a Facebook page or a Twitter feed, likely both. LinkedIn is a good option as well. On LinkedIn, you can type in the media outlet’s name and search and see who works there.

Follow them through the social media site you use the most. That's all you need to do right now.

Follow and read what they post. If you want to respond to any questions they ask, that's great. But, right now, you're simply following, friending, adding.

And you are reading, too.

You'll notice some of them come right out and ask for story ideas. I host a business TV show near where I live in Virginia Beach. It’s called Hampton Roads Business Weekly. On social media, I am always talking about the businesses we have featured and also asking for recommendations to highlight for future episodes.

Other reporters and anchors will do the same thing. They’ll put out a call for specific information. If the topic applies to you, respond. They're asking for a reason.

You can't respond if you don't realize they're asking for information. And you won't know about those calls to action unless you are right there with them. So for now, be in the know by following them. And while you're at it, follow the news organizations as well.

Your homework for today is go GET ON SOCIAL MEDIA and notice the news people around you.

Tomorrow,